LONDON (Reuters) – Ghana’s sovereign dollar-denominated bonds rallied by as much as 1.8 cents on Monday, according to Tradeweb data, ahead of the government’s medium-term budget review presentation to parliament and after Reuters reported that its debt to the central bank was halved.
The debt-distressed West African country’s 2032, 2051 and 2061 maturities gained the most, hitting their highest levels in nearly a year, but all were still trading below 45 cents on the dollar, according to Tradeweb data. < XS1968714623=TE>
Ghana defaulted on most of its external debt in December. It is currently restructuring both domestic and overseas debt as a condition of a $3 billion rescue loan from the International Monetary Fund.
Ghana has “made progress with official creditors for a restructuring of its external debt under the G20 Common Framework,” credit rating agency Fitch said on Friday as it affirmed Ghana’s foreign and local currency issuer rating as “RD”(“Restricted Default”).
Additionally, anticipation that the budget review later on Monday will contain details of how the government will deliver on IMF requirements is “supporting sentiment towards Ghanaian bonds,” said Takudzwa Ndawona, co-head of Africa at ETM Analytics.
(Reporting by Rachel Savage, Editing by Libby George)